Churchyard Walls and Gate Piers to St Mary's Abbey Church is a Grade II listed building in the Neath Port Talbot local planning authority area, Wales. First listed on 24 February 1975. Churchyard walls, gate piers.

Churchyard Walls and Gate Piers to St Mary's Abbey Church

WRENN ID
iron-cobalt-primrose
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Neath Port Talbot
Constituency
Aberafan Maesteg MP: Stephen Kinnock (Lab)
Country
Wales
Date first listed
24 February 1975
Type
Churchyard walls, gate piers
Address
Churchyard Walls and Gate Piers to St Mary's Abbey Church, Margam
OS grid reference
SS 801 863
Coordinates
51.56286, -3.731
Source
Cadw listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The churchyard walls and gate piers to St Mary's Abbey Church date from the 18th century. They feature a pair of gate piers made of ashlar stone, shaped in a cruciform section. These piers support capped upstands on decorated corbels, with a projecting band beneath. Between the piers are ornate double cast iron gates. The top rails of the gates curve upward towards the center, where they are adorned with fleur-de-lis finials and a frieze of scroll-work. The uprights are bound with bands of linked ovals and have arched heads topped with ornate pendant finials. The lock bar also features scroll-work, and there are low dog rails with tall pointed finials set within curved motifs, along with stylised crosses in the bottom angles.

The churchyard walls, which flank the gates, are constructed of rubble stone and vary in height. Some areas retain saddleback coping, while others are rendered. There are remains of former openings in the north wall, which are now blocked. A late 20th-century entrance with a round arch is located immediately north of the Stones Museum, beyond which is a small lean-to structure.

Local climate

Churchyard Walls and Gate Piers to St Mary's Abbey Church sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,220 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 23 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 9 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. War Memorial Grade II 18 m
  2. Ivy Cottage including Facade of Former Banqueting House Grade I 35 m
  3. Almshouses Grade II 40 m
  4. St Mary's Abbey Church Grade I 45 m
  5. Stones Museum Grade II 51 m
  6. Margam Orangery Grade I 69 m
  7. Kitchen Garden Walls including Vinery Glasshouse Grade II 86 m
  8. Terrace with Pools and Flower Beds Fronting Margam Orangery Grade II* 90 m
  9. Ruins of Chapter House and Vestibule of St Mary's Abbey Grade I 96 m
  10. Ruined Undercroft at St Mary's Abbey Grade I 110 m